| Decision | Consent Granted Section 12(b) Overseas Investment Act 2005 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 6 May 2010 |
| Investment | An overseas investment in sensitive land, being the Applicant's acquisition of rights or interests in 100.0% of the ordinary shares of VT Group plc which owns or controls a leasehold interest in 2.1100 hectares of land at Calliope Rd and Queens Parade, North Shore, Auckland. |
| Asset Value | $14,000,000 |
| Applicant | Babcock International Group PLC United Kingdom Public (76.18%) United States Public (13.49%) Various overseas persons (10.33%) |
| Vendor | Existing Shareholders of VT Group plc United Kingdom Public (85.18%) United States Public (7.06%) Various overseas persons (6.49%) Canadian Public (1.27%) |
| Background | The Applicant and its subsidiaries operate global engineering support services across six key divisions - Marine, Defence, Rail, Nuclear, Networks and Engineering and Plant (e.g. one of its subsidiaries manages and operates the naval engineering facility at Devonport Naval Base, Auckland). The Applicant previously managed the NZDF dockyard via its subsidiary Babcock NZ. Babcock NZ provided services to the New Zealand Navy until VT Fitzroy took over this function in 2004. The Applicant seeks consent to acquire all of the ordinary shares in VT Group plc (VT Group), a United Kingdom listed company, by means of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement, or a takeover of VT Group Plc, in the United Kingdom. An indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of VT Group, VT Support Services Limited owns 70% of VT Fitzroy Limited which has a leasehold interest in sensitive land situated at HMNZ Naval Base, Devonport, Auckland. VT Fitzroy Limited provides dockyard facilities and engineering services to the New Zealand Navy, other New Zealand defence entities and commercial customers. The overseas investment transaction has satisfied the criteria in section 16 of the Overseas Investment Act 2005. The 'benefit to New Zealand' criterion was satisfied by particular reference to the following factors: Overseas Investment Regulations 2005 |
| More information | Garth Sinclair/Alex Franks Russell McVeagh (Auckland) PO Box 8 AUCKLAND |